The Architect
by MotherOfBabyDragons
Summary: Tony's made an enemy. A dangerous enemy who wants revenge and won't stop until Tony's dead. And how will Tony cope with the effects of what happens. Tony-centric but has all the avengers in. Some swearing. Eventual Stony.
1. Chapter 1

**Thanks so much to AGameOfShadows for all her help with this! After you've read this go check out her fics, they're really good!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters or anything except my writing, obviously, shame though.**

"Okay everyone, suit up. Looks like The Architect's back in town." Steve said to the rest of the avengers who were sitting watching a film.

As Tony ran down the stairs to his workshop to get into his suit he called out, "Jarvis, tell me everything you know about this 'Architect' guy."

"Yes sir. You first encountered him two weeks ago when he attempted to destroy a school, one week later he targeted a hospital. It appears that this time he has several robotic devices aiding him."

Tony was now fully suited up and he started the thrusters. Jarvis continued to speak as Tony flew out over the city. "He seems to have similar abilities to Mr. Rogers."

"Okay. Jarvis link up the comms."

"Yes sir."

"Steve? You there?"

"Stark. Get over to the center of town. We need to get civilians out of danger."

"Okay." Tony altered his course slightly so that he was taking the shortest route there.

"Clint, on the rooftops. Thor, Natasha, we'll take street level. Bruce, you stay back for now."

As Tony approached the city center he blocked out the sound of his friends talking and focused in on the sounds from below. Car and fire alarms were ringing and sirens could be heard in the distance while robots were patrolling the surrounding streets shooting anyone who resisted. People were running, screaming, but standing calmly surrounded by chaos was The Architect.

Tony landed in a relatively clear patch of ground, two cars burning nearby.

"Oi. What is it you want mister 'Architect'?"

"Tony!" Steve's voice came urgently over the comm, "Stop! Do not engage. Do not engage."

"Too late," Tony said sheepishly.

"You, Stark. I want you." His voice was laced with hatred and his eyes flickered, reflecting the flames.

"Ah. And, err, why is that?" Tony said trying to keep the fear from his voice as The Architect advanced on him. He just had to keep him talking long enough for the others to arrive.

"You and your father took my family. Your father's weapons killed my parents. Your weapons destroyed my home. I _will_ have my revenge."

"Tony? Tony?" Steve voice came through the comm followed by Bruce's, "Tony? Are you okay?"

Tony opened his mouth to answer but The Architect spoke first, "Don't speak. I have robots following each of your friends. If you speak one of them will die. You can choose which goes first."

Tony closed his mouth.

"Take off the helmet," The Architect commanded, "I want to see the fear in your eyes."

Tony reached up and pulled the helmet off, trying to keep his face calm, hiding his inner turmoil, _where was everyone? Please, someone. I don't want to die._

"Throw the helmet to me."

Tony hesitated, he could hear the faint voices of his friends calling his name.

"Throw it." His voice was icy cold.

Tony threw it.

The Architect caught it easily and held it in both hands. "Now this, Anthony," Tony flinched at the use of his full name, "Is what I will do to you." He crushed the helmet with ease and then dropped it to the floor.

Tony could feel his blood pounding through his veins. That shouldn't have happened. His amour should have been strong enough to withstand that. His amour _is_ strong enough to withstand that.

"Now, Anthony, here is a small glimpse of what I can do to you." He flicked his hand at the burning cars and two of his robots fired something at them.

Tony frowned, confused, when nothing immediately happened. He opened his mouth to say something snide when the cars exploded, blasting him into the air. His back smashed into the side of a half destroyed building and then he fell four meters to the ground, his head connecting with the pavement with a sickening crunch. He blinked woozily trying to clear his vision as blood trickled down the side of his face from his temple. He was lying on his side surrounded by rubble and debris, his arm was wedged between two huge pieces of concrete. He blinked again, his vision blurring, he could see a figure walking towards him, then the person turned into two people, or was that just from hitting his head?

"Oh Anthony. How disappointing. I really thought you'd put up a bit more of a fight." The Architect was walking slowly towards him, a sadistic grin on his face. Tony started panicking, desperately trying to free his arm. Where were the rest of his team? The Architect was standing over him, his face twisted into a satisfied smirk, "Where are all your little friends now Anthony? They've abandoned you. Just when you need them the most."

Tony's gaze moved to behind The Architect, he could see faint shapes in the square behind, was that Steve? He couldn't tell, his vision still blurred.

"I'll leave you now Anthony. Think on your sins." He turned to go but then stopped and looked back down at Tony. He lifted up his foot and slammed it down with unnatural strength on Tony's leg. There was a crunch as the metal of the suit crumpled and the bone inside was crushed.

Tony screamed in pain. Nothing was as painful as this. Not even getting his arc reactor put in without anesthetic. He could feel the metal cutting into his leg. His leg, which was on fire, burning with pain. He couldn't breathe, the pain was too much, his chest tightening as he started to panic, lying there with his arm still trapped and his leg on fire. Tony lay on the ground, alone and in pain until he heard a voice, faintly and in the distance. Someone was saying his name.

"Tony. Tony, wake up. Tony listen to me."

Tony opened his eyes, vision still blurring, "S-Steve."

"Yeah it's me, and Clint. He's here too."

"Help. Help me Steve. It hurts. It hurts so much."

Steve was shocked at Tony revealing his weakness, he glanced at Clint and he had an expression of surprise on his face that Steve suspected he also had.

"What hurts Tony?" Steve asked him, anxious to know what it was that had the great Tony Stark in such pain.

"Leg," Tony forced out through gritted teeth.

Steve and Clint looked down at Tony's leg. The metal of the suit had been crushed into his leg and bright white bone was jutting out through the skin, while blood gushed down into a puddle on the floor.

"Holy fuck." Clint said in shock, "Shit," He looked away appalled at the sight of the mangled limb.

Steve gagged, then controlled himself. They had to get Tony out of there as soon as possible.

"Okay Tony. Try and stay awake. I'm gonna get your arm free first and then we'll see what we can do, okay?"

He started shifting the boulders while Clint talked to Natasha over the comm. "Yeah, we've found him. His leg's messed up though. The Cap's trying to get him out now... Okay, see you soon then."

Clint turned back to see that Steve had managed to free Tony's arm from between the boulders. Luckily the suit had protected his arm from the same fate as his leg.

"They've got an ambulance coming but the rubble's making it tricky to get through. Natasha said to keep him awake. They need to check for a concussion before they sedate him."

"Right. Okay, Tony?"

"Hmm.."

"I'm gonna try and sit you up against the wall okay." Steve tried to sound reassuring but he wasn't sure it worked from the look of pain and fear on Tony's face.

"Clint, help me sit him up." They knelt down either side of Tony and Steve started to count down, "Three.. Two.. One, lift."

Tony gritted his teeth in preparation as Steve counted down, but he wasn't prepared for the wave of pain that wracked his body when he was moved. He let out a moan of pain and his vision blackened for a second before becoming clear again.

"Okay, Tony, you have to stay awake. Focus on me. Don't fall asleep."

Tony could hear Steve's voice but it was getting harder and harder to focus on it. He could hear sirens in the distance as his eyes slipped shut and just before the blackness enveloped him he heard Steve and Clint frantically calling his name, but it was too late.

"Tony, Tony. Wake up," Clint called as his eyes slid shut, "Shit. What do we do now?"

"I don't know. Wait for the ambulance and hope he's okay."

After five minutes that dragged like five hours an ambulance turned the corner and pulled up beside them. Two paramedics jumped out and ran over, followed by another who was carrying a stretcher. They worked together to quickly and carefully strap Tony onto the stretcher and carry him to the ambulance. Once inside they fitted an oxygen mask to his face and started to remove to Iron Man suit. "I'm sorry," One of the paramedics said, "There's not enough room for you to come with us. You can meet us at the hospital." He said and closed the doors on them. They watched as the ambulance drove away leaving the street empty and quiet, the only movement coming from the wisps of smoke coming from the two burned out cars.

**Thanks for reading and please review, follow or whatever. Thanks.**


	2. Chapter 2

**So, chapter two. I know it's short but enjoy! :) **

**I still don't own anything and thanks again to AGameOfShadows.**

**And thanks to everyone who favourited, followed and reviewed, keep it up I really appreciate it!**

The hospital walls seemed too damn cheery. It sounds silly, how can white walls generate any kind of genuine emotion? Especially 'cheery'. White's supposed to represent hope and peace. When you die, isn't that what you're supposed to see? A warm, white light? The walls should be black. The dark color you should really see when you die, falling, spiraling down through the dark and empty tunnel of death.

Steve sighed. Being in this place was driving him crazy. He hated seeing Tony lying still and helpless on his hospital bed. He looked so small surrounded by machines and wrapped in bandages. His leg was incased in a plaster cast and his head was tightly bandaged. He had an oxygen mask over his face to help him breathe as his broken ribs meant that his lungs wouldn't fully inflate due to the pain. The heart monitor beeped steadily, the glowing green line spiking and falling, spiking and falling, spiking and falling.

The door slammed shut. Steve jumped slightly and looked round to see Clint and Bruce walking over.

"How is he?" Clint asked, "Any sign of movement yet?"

"No." Steve replied dejectedly.

"Don't worry. It's only been 12 hours. His body's probably still in shock." Bruce said, trying to reassure Steve.

"I know, I know, it's just, seeing him like this, he looks so vunerable."

"He'll be okay," Clint said, " You know what he's like. Nothing stops him for long, he'll be out of here soon and you'll be wanting to put him back in here yourself."

Steve smiled, seeing the truth in Clint's words, "Yeah, your right."

"Why don't you go and get something to eat? Me and Bruce've got this. We'll get you as soon as he so much as twitches an eyelash."

"Okay. But you better. I want to be here when he wakes up." Steve stood up and walked to the door, glancing back at Tony before leaving the room.

"What d'you reckon then?" Clint asked Bruce, "How long till he wakes up?"

"Hard to say really. He hit his head pretty bad," Bruce sat down in Steve's seat leaving Clint to grab one from across the room, "And even when he does wake up it's gonna be hard for him to do stuff. He's gonna be on crutches for at least six months, and until his ribs heal it'll be even worse."

They sat in a companionable silence, waiting for Steve to come back, when he did they all sat together and watched Tony, listening to the comfortable sound of the heart monitor. After an hour, Clint left, saying he had things to do back at the tower, leaving Bruce and Steve alone in the gradually darkening room.

At some point, Steve couldn't remember when, Bruce had gone out to get a drink and had turned the lights on, meaning a bright white glare now lit up Tony's motionless body. Then, after hours of sitting in silence, just as Steve's eyes were closing he heard Tony move. His eyes snapped open, and he saw that Bruce had done the same, they were both leaning towards Tony, hoping beyond hope that he would wake up.

Tony slowly opened his eyes, flinching from the brightness of the lights, but once he had adjusted he turned his head to the side to see Bruce and Steve looking down at him nervously.

"Tony?" Bruce said hesitantly, "How do you feel?"

"Like shit." He rasped out, his throat burning.

"Yeah, well, that's not really surprising considering what happened."

"The Architect... wha-what happened to him?"

"We don't know." Steve said, "He ran off as soon as he saw me and Clint coming over."

Tony smiled weakly, "Sorry, Steve, I shouldn't of, shouldn't of-"

Steve interrupted him, "It's not your fault Tony. Don't even try to argue with me. It's not your fault. There's nothing you could've done."

"Could've stopped h-" Tony broke off, coughing, then winced as his ribs flared with pain.

Concern flashed across Steve's face, "Tony stop. It doesn't matter. We'll get him eventually. Just try to sleep. You'll be allowed to come home tomorrow. Right Bruce?"

"Yeah, but only if you can prove to the doctors that your okay. So you need to sleep."

"Okay, fine. I'll go to sleep." His words were already slurring and he was asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.

"Come on Steve, let's go. We can come back in the morning. You need to sleep as well."

They walked away together, Steve looking back at Tony one last time before closing the door softly behind him.

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	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks everyone who reviewed, followed, favourited or even just read this :) You make me so happy.**

Tony had only been back at the tower for two weeks but already everyone was annoyed at him, and he was annoyed at everyone. No one had really appreciated how much time Tony actually spent in his lab working until now. On crutches it was impossible for Tony to work, he could barely walk, let alone use tools or build things. This meant that all he had to do was design stuff but after a while he grew tired of this and became restless, leaving the Avengers with a highly irritable and obnoxious genius to entertain.

Clint tried films, but there was only so much time in a day that could be spent collapsed on a sofa, and only so many films that Tony hadn't already seen.

Steve tried to teach Tony to paint, hoping that he would enjoy it and want to spend more time sitting by himself quietly. Steve's idea lasted exactly 43 minutes. Or until Tony discovered that this was something he wasn't instantly amazing at.

Natasha didn't even try. She decided it was a lost cause and she'd just let the others figure that out for themselves the hard way.

Thor was still in Asgard and so was spared the trauma of trying to entertain the billionaire.

Bruce had more success. Mostly because he used science, a subject Tony was sure to find interesting...

"Hey Tony," Bruce said entering the kitchen to find Tony leaning on the counter attempting to butter toast while standing on one leg, his crutches leaning up next to him.

"Hey Bruce," Tony spun round to greet his friend, forgetting he was only standing on one leg, and almost toppled to the ground, stopped only by Bruce grabbing his elbow and yanking him upright. Tony frowned in annoyance, "Thanks. I keep forgetting," He gestured down at his leg which was covered in a plaster cast up to his knee.

"So, I was wondering if you wanted to come down to my lab today?" Bruce asked as Tony used his hands to boost himself up so he was sitting on the worktop.

"Erm, yeah sure."

"Before you get any ideas, you can't do any hands on stuff."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Tony replied through a mouthful of toast. "What you working on?" He asked before taking another huge bite.

Bruce grabbed a bowl out of the cupboard and poured himself some cereal, "I'm trying to see if I can use the ionising affects of alpha and beta particles to temporarily control the Hulk."

"Ahh, different radiation to counteract the original source. Could work, but you gotta be careful, don't wanna turn the Other Guy into some sorta big red giant Other Guy." Tony said, a grin spreading slowly across his face.

"Very funny."

"I know right."

They sat in silence, eating breakfast for a few minutes until Tony spoke again, "Or blue. Actually, purple can look quite nice if you get the right shade."

"Comic genius."

Tony just grinned at him, "You love me really."

"Come on, let's go."

Tony lowered himself down onto his good foot and grabbed his crutches while Bruce cleared his plate for him.

"You don't have to do that. I can do it myself."

"I doubt that." The words came out harsher than Bruce meant and he felt a pang of guilt when he saw a look of hurt flash across Tony's face, "Sorry, I didn't mean that, sorry."

"It's okay, you're right, I _can't_ do it. I can't do _anything_. I hate these stupid fuc-" Tony waved one crutch at Bruce, overbalanced himself and fell onto the side of the counter. "Owww." He moved one hand to his ribs which had almost healed but were still sore to touch.

"For god's sake Tony," Bruce said, exasperated, "You need to be more careful."

"Yeah, I know, I know. So, shall we go?"

Bruce led the way, holding the doors open for Tony who limped along after him, ribs throbbing.

When they finally made it to the lab Bruce grabbed a chair for Tony so he could watch Bruce work but not get in the way.

...

After three months Tony had become, if possible, even more irritating. He'd mastered the use of his crutches but still couldn't build anything big because he had to be sitting down to use his hands. He became increasingly annoyed when the rest of the team went out on missions without him, especially against The Architect who was still terrorising the city.

...

After four months Steve caught Tony attempting to cut his plaster cast off.

"Tony! What the hell are you doing?" Steve had come down to Tony's lab to check he hadn't fallen over anything or set himself on fire. What he didn't expect was Tony sitting on the floor, back against the wall, leg out in front of him and a fine toothed saw in his hand.

Steve ran over to him and took the spinning blade gently out of Tony's hand before sitting down next to him. "What were you thinking?"

Tony across at Steve, teary-eyed, "I-I'm sorry. I didn't, I was, I dunno."

"Hey, Tony, it's okay." Steve said, trying to soothe him, but panicking on the inside, _oh my god, Tony's crying, what do I do? Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! _

Tony bent over and put his head in his hands, "I can't do it. I'm just s-so sick of this stupid cast and I, I-"

Steve reached over and awkwardly put his hand round Tony's shoulders, pulling him closer. "It doesn't matter, it's okay, it's okay."

Tony lent against Steve's chest, "I feel so useless like this," He choked out between sobs, "I, I hate this."

"Hey, Tony, Tony, you're not useless, you could never be useless. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise."

"T-too late now, all he ever said w-was I was useless." Tony's voice was slowing down and becoming slurred, Steve wondered how long it had been since Tony'd last slept, "I, I was never good enough f-for him. I tried s-so hard-"

"Tony," Steve interrupted, "Tony. Just go to sleep. Don't worry about it, just sleep."

For once Tony did as he was asked, gradually relaxing into Steve's arms.

"JARVIS?" Steve said uncertainly, he still wasn't quite comfortable addressing the A.I.

"Yes Captain Rogers." The calm voice answered from above, "What can I do for you?"

"Erm, how long was Tony awake for?"

"Sir was awake for 36 hours and 13 minutes."

"Did he eat anything?"

"Sir last ate 23 hours and 27 minutes ago."

Steve made a mental promise to keep a closer watch on Tony from now on.

"Thank you JARVIS."

"You're welcome. Will that be all?"

"Err, yeah. Actually, no. What- Who was Tony talking about just then?"

"I believe that sir was referring to his father, Howard."

Steve felt ill. He'd known that Tony's childhood hadn't been perfect but it was a lot worse than he'd thought if Tony was still upset about something that happened years ago.

"Okay, thanks."

"My pleasure."

Steve carefully shifted Tony until he was laid across his arms and then stood up, gently, to carry Tony up to bed. He got to the door of the lab and realised he'd forgotten the crutches which were still lying on the floor by the wall. Finally he made upstairs and into Tony's room, with Tony_and _the crutches. He put the crutches down on the floor and then placed Tony carefully on his bed. Steve turned to go but realised that Tony still had his shoes on. Well, shoe.

He loosened the shoelace and slowly slid the shoe off Tony's foot, being careful not to wake him. He put the shoe on the floor by the crutches and turned to go. Then he turned back and sighed, he couldn't leave Tony like this. He went back over to Tony, who was still dead to the world, and undid the top of his jeans. He slid them slowly down his legs and worked them over the cast, carefully so as not to jolt Tony's leg. The last thing he needed now was for Tony to wake up. The jeans joined the crutches and shoe on the floor and Steve pulled the duvet over Tony before finally leaving and shutting the door quietly behind him.

Tony didn't mention what happened that night so neither did Steve. But Steve did watch Tony more closely, to make sure he was eating and sleeping.

When Tony finally got his cast off he disappeared off to his lab for hours on end and no one saw him until a week later the call to assemble came.

The Architect was back.

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	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry this took a while. Life happened.**

It was over. They'd lost. The robots were too strong, too numerous. Steve was lying crumpled in heap against a wall, unconscious, and Bruce, although in Hulk form, was being forced back by the sheer number of robots attacking him. Clint and Natasha were standing back to back, desperately trying to keep the robots back, while Tony dealt with the ones in the air. _Damn it_, Tony thought, _if Thor was here we could be winning. Of all the days to go back to Asgard he had to pick today._ He fired his repulsors at an oncoming robot, knocking it out of the sky with a hole through it's middle, and then he spun and grabbed another one out of the air, before plummeting down and smashing it into the ground. After a lot of trial and error, they discovered only a few ways to destroy the creatures, which seemed to be able to adapt to their attacks.

"Tony," Natasha's voice came crackling over the comm, "Tony, we need something big, we're never going to defeat them like this."

"I know, I know," Tony replied, taking out two more with several repulsor blasts, "I'm working on it. We need to try and- Shit. Oh shit."

"What's happening?" Clint asked.

"It's him. The Architect. If I take him down then the robots'll stop, they're linked to him." He started to fly up to where The Architect stood at the top of a skyscraper, looking down, surveying his chaos.

"Tony, wait. Tony, he'll kill you."

"This is our only chance to stop him. I have to go. I'm sorry."

Tony flew upwards, dodging away from robots, and occasionally firing repulsor blasts at them. When Tony reached the top of the building he hovered in front of The Architect, "Stop this right now. You wanted me? Well you've got me. Deactivate the robots."

"Don't worry Anthony, I will, your friends will be safe. But first, I want you to look down on the destruction you have caused." He spread his arms out wide, gesturing out at the destruction below.

"The destruction _I've_ caused? You're the one who did this, your robots did this, not me." Tony said looking down across the rubble of the streets below, buildings and cars burning, sending plumes of black smoke up to streak across the gray skies.

"No, Anthony, _you_ did this. _You_, not me. Your arrogance, your selfishness, your ambition. If you had never built weapons then my family would still be alive, and I wouldn't be here. It's all your fault. All of it. All those people dead out there, crushed under rubble, or trapped, burning to death. And your friends. Unconscious, injured. All of this is your fault."

Tony didn't reply. It was his fault. The Architect was right. If he hadn't been so obsessed with making money then none of this would of happened.

"Oh, I'm sorry," The Architect cut in, distracting Tony from his self-destructive thoughts, "Where are my manners? I told you I would deactivate my robots." He paused, "Unfortunately they can't be deactivated, only destroyed."

Tony's eyes widened under his helmet as he realised what The Architect meant.

"Noooo!" He shouted as three robots exploded below, Natasha and Clint looked round to see what the noise was, so were unaware of the two robots beside them until they, too, blew up, throwing them both aside and into a car.

More robots began to explode until there was nothing left but smoke and flame, except for the robots surrounding the Hulk. He was completely covered by them, and Tony didn't know how much the Hulk could take, the explosion could kill him for real.

"No. No, no no no no. Not Bruce, please, don't hurt him." Tony pleaded.

The Architect tilted his head to the side, as if in thought, "Well..."

A huge explosion shook the building and the Hulk was enveloped in a cloud of smoke and flame.

"Sorry, too late."

Tony screamed Bruce's name, but there was no sound from below except a distant police siren. He turned back to The Architect and charged up his repulsors, ready to attack, but The Architect just reached calmly into his pocket and brought out a glowing round object.

"Do you know what this is Anthony? No? Well," He paused, a smirk on his face, "You're about to find out." He threw it into the air and it pulsed, blue light bursting out from it, hitting Tony directly.

"Oh shit." Tony said. He recognised it now, Electromagnetic Pulse or EMP, it was going to shut down his Arc reactor.

Jarvis' voice calmly said, "Power at 73% and falling,"

Tony started panicking. He was going to fall. It was New York all over again.

"Power at 56% and falling."

Tony could feel the Arc reactor failing, he was struggling to breathe now. he knew he should fly down to the ground, but he couldn't move, couldn't breathe, his mind was fixed on one thing, he was going to fall.

"Power at 23% and falling."

The Architect looked at him and smiled, a satisfied smile, he knew he'd won, he was just waiting the five seconds between detonating the device, and the finale.

"Power at 7% and falling."

And then Tony was falling. Plummeting down. He was turning in the air, head over heels. _Just like New York,_ Tony thought, _except there's no one here to catch me._ He wasn't sure if anyone was still listening, if anyone was even still alive, but he spoke anyway, two words, "I'm sorry."

The ground was getting closer and closer every millisecond, The suit would protect him to an extent but it was a long way to fall and even if he did survive, the Arc reactor was broken, Tony estimated he had five and a half minutes left to live.

Then he hit the ground.

...

There was an explosion and Natasha was thrown heavily to the side, smashing her arm against a car. She felt the bones snap on impact, and her head hit off something hard, her vision going dark.

When she opened her eyes, flinching at the brightness of the light, she heard someone speak through the comm, "I'm sorry." Who's sorry? What for? She looked up and her heart stopped beating, her breath froze in her lungs. Tony was falling, again. But this time there was no one there to catch him.

Then he hit the ground.

...

Tony opened his eyes slowly, but didn't move, he didn't know if he could move. He lay there, waves of pain wracking his body, when Jarvis spoke.

"Sir I suggest you do not move. You have sustained multiple injuries and it would be unwise to move."

"W-what? What's wrong?"

"Multiple broken and fractured ribs, internal bleeding, concussion, possible fractured skull. The Arc reactor has shut down. I'm sorry sir."

Tony reached up with his left hand and pulled the face plate off the helmet. If he was going to die then he wanted to be able to see the sky and feel the air on his face.

Four and a half minutes to go. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. Any minute now he would go into cardiac arrest. A shadow fell across his face.

"Anthony, I'm surprised to see you still alive. But not for long, don't worry."

The edges of Tony's vision were getting darker, black spots dancing over his eyes, but he could see the silhouette of a gun in The Architect's hand, pointing at his head.

"Goodbye Anthony."

Tony took one last deep breath.

A shot rang out and everything went black.

**Sorry about the cliffhanger, I couldn't help myself.**

**Please review, it makes me write faster so that means that you'll have less long to wait :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks everyone who reviewed and favourited and followed you're all awesome people and I love you loads! :)**

**To TheAwesomeCocoPuff for you, I wrote like I've never written before!**

**And to ****Jimenush, I promised, so here it is..**

**Enjoy...**

Steve jerked awake and looked frantically round the small room, calming slightly when he saw Natasha sitting next to his bed, her arm in a sling, and Clint leaning in the doorway.

"Finally, you're awake." Natasha said, her usually impassive voice tinged with worry.

Steve frowned slightly, "Wh- What's happened? What did you do to your arm?"

"Broken, it's fine, I've had worse."

Steve frowned slightly but knew better than to argue, "Is Tony okay? Bruce?"

Natasha glanced at Clint and they exchanged an undecipherable look.

"He's- Tony's, erm, he's alive."

Steve looked at her with panic in his eyes, "Alive? That's all? Just alive?"

"He's on life support. The arc reactor was severely damaged and he hasn't woken up since he fell-"

"He what? The arc reactor's damaged? How?"

"The Architect disabled his reactor with some sort of electromagnet device, so the suit shut down and he fell."

"He fell?"

"Yeah, from the top of a skyscraper."

Steve paled, who knew what falling again would do to Tony, he still hadn't got over the last time.

"But the electromagnet, that shouldn't have permanently damaged it, you can just fix that right?" Steve looked between Clint and Natasha for some sort of reassurance that Tony would be okay.

Natasha looked away awkwardly, "Yeah, but the, erm, The Architect tried to shoot Tony- Don't worry," She cut in at the look of panic on Steve's face, "I managed to shoot at him first, unfortunately he had a reflex as I shot him and he, erm, shot the arc reactor, from point blank range."

"It's not your fault Natasha, you saved his life." Clint tried to reassure her.

"Clint's right. It's not your fault, you did the right thing."

"I know, it's just they said he might never wake up and what if-"

"He'll be fine Nat, you know Tony, nothing keeps him down." Clint said, walking over and sitting down on the edge of Steve's bed.

"What about the arc reactor? How did they fix it?"

"Bruce knew where to get a spare so he's fine now. Just needs some time to heal."

Steve sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, "Let's go see him then."

"Woah, woah, woah. You ain't going nowhere yet. Get back into that bed." Natasha's mask had fallen back into place and Steve wasn't getting away with this.

Steve sighed, "Okay, how long?"

"Until the doctors say you're fine."

Steve pulled the duvet back over his legs, "How's Bruce?"

"He's okay, the Other Guy took a bad hit but he's fine now."

Steve relaxed slightly, "Thank god."

They'd been sat chatting for an hour Clint and Natasha trying to distract Steve from worrying about Tony, when a doctor came in and told them that they needed the bed and so Steve was going to have to leave. Steve was up and straight away making his way to where Clint had told him Tony was.

What Clint and Natasha had told him wasn't enough to prepare Steve for the sight that greeted him when he entered the clinically white room. Tony was lying motionless on the bed, wires going from the arc reactor to machines either side of him and he had an I.V drip going to his wrist. His chest was a purple-blue landscape of bruises, and Steve could see them spreading round to his back as well. His face was pale, making the shallow cuts on his left cheekbone stand out, and there was a nasty bruise on his temple, as well as a deep cut. Steve couldn't help thinking about the last time they'd fought The Architect and Tony had ended up in the exact same situation. He felt oddly protective of the handsome genius, but then, he felt protective of all the team, he was the 'leader' after all. Even if he didn't do very much actual leading.

His eyes were then drawn to Bruce who was asleep in the chair next to Tony, he too looked tired and worn out, hardly surprising after what Clint told him had happened. It can't of been fun to have a good twenty robots blow up in your face, even if you are almost indestructible.

Steve sat down in the other chair on the opposite side of Tony's bed to Bruce and waited for Bruce to wake up.

...

It had been three days since Tony fell and he hadn't moved at all. Not even a twitch. Steve hadn't left him, wanting to be there when he woke up. Tony hated hospitals at the best of times and Steve didn't want him to wake up, confused and surrounded by unfamiliar faces. The rest of the Avengers took it in turns to come and vist the pair and to update Steve on what was happening in the city and at the tower.

...

On the fourth day Tony woke up.

Steve jolted awake from a restless sleep, to see Tony shift minutely in his bed.

"Tony?"

Tony twitched again, his face pinching slightly in discomfort.

"Come on Tony, wake up."

Tony lay still again and Steve's heart sank with disappointment, Tony was probably just dreaming. But after a minute or so he twitched again, more violently this time.

"Tony? Tony, can you hear me? It's me, Steve, you're okay, you're safe." He knew Tony often had nightmares, flashbacks to New York, he didn't like to think what falling again had triggered for him.

Tony flinched again but this time he murmured something in his sleep, Steve only just caught it even with enhanced hearing, "Falling."

"Come on Tony, wake up. It's just a dream. Wake up." Steve said, more urgently than before, who knew what sort of living hell Tony was experiencing right now.

Tony flinched again, even more violently than before and then his eyes snapped open and he shot up in bed, looking around wildly.

"Tony. It's okay, you're fine. It's safe here, you're safe here." Steve got up from his seat and sat on the bed next to Tony. He reached out to put his arm round Tony who was trembling, fear in his eyes. Tony lent into him, relaxing slightly, but Steve could feel that he was still tense. "It's over now. The Architect's dead, he can't hurt you anymore." Tony tensed up when Steve mentioned The Architect's name and he moved one hand unconsciously up towards the arc reactor.

"You need to sleep Tony, come on, let's lie you back down," Steve tried to coax Tony back into bed but he just shook his head. "What's up?"

"Don't wanna fall again," Tony murmured into Steve's t-shirt, breaking eye contact.

"You won't fall. I'll stay right here with you."

"Y-you promise?" Tony questioned tentatively.

"I promise. I'll always be here for you." Steve blushed slightly when he realised what he'd just said, but Tony didn't notice and appeared satisfied by this so Steve just helped lie back down and pulled the duvet over him again. He got up to sit back down in the uncomfortable plastic chair but:

"No," Tony said sleepily, his voice slurred by painkillers, "Get in."

"N-no, Tony I can't, t-there's-"

"Please..." Tony trailed off, a sad look in his sleep fogged eyes.

Steve sighed, "Okay, I'll sit with you. But that's it."

Tony just smiled up at him as Steve slid into the bed next to him and Tony placed his head in Steve's lap before quickly drifting off into a peaceful sleep. Steve soon followed him, now that he knew Tony would be okay, he realised how tired he was and he was finally able to sleep without worrying.

That was how Clint and Natasha found them when they came to vist later on in the evening, Tony resting on Steve, their legs tangled together in between the sheets.

"You owe me ten quid," Clint said grinning, "I told you so."

Natasha glared back at him but she couldn't suppress the smile that snuck onto her face as she watched the pair sleeping peacefully side by side.

**Sooo what do ya think? Don't forget to review, even just one word, it only takes a second and it makes my day :)**


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